We received word back in May that Charlotte’s NBA franchise would be changing its nickname back to the Hornets beginning in the 2014-15 NBA season, and the team officially unveiled its logos and brand identity at a halftime ceremony on Saturday.

“The primary logo utilizes the purple and teal color palette and features an aggressive-looking hornet that is ready to attack. Its piercing eyes, raised antennae, expanded wings and pointed stinger depict its relentless intensity. Incorporated within the logo is a basketball that doubles as the hornet’s body. The Charlotte Hornets wordmark is written across the insect. The logo contains several odes to that of the original Hornets with its white wings, white accents within its eyes, a stinger and the inclusion of a basketball.

“The logo represents several characteristics of actual hornets, including their swarming and attacking nature, along with their fierceness and relentlessness when protecting their nests. These same characteristics connect with the city of Charlotte itself. The city’s rebelliousness, aggressiveness and protective attributes date to the Revolutionary War when British commander General Cornwallis referred to Charlotte as “a hornet’s nest of rebellion.” …

“The secondary logo features a side view of the hornet in an attacking position with elongated wings, aggressive eyes and extended stinger. The body once again consists of a basketball, while the curled body shape represents the letter “C” for the city of Charlotte. It also consists of the purple and teal colors like the primary logo.

“The Hornets wordmark includes the word Charlotte in teal written above the purple Hornets name. The entire brand identity – logos and wordmark – was designed in collaboration with senior executives within the Bobcats organization; Jordan Brand, a division of Nike; and the NBA’s Global Merchandising Group. Both Jordan Brand and Nike have a long history of working with professional teams and universities in developing brand identities and utilize some of the world’s most highly recognized designers.”

All of this is very cool — fans both locally and nationally seem to relate to the original nickname and color scheme, and are looking forward to the change taking place. The primary and secondary logos can be viewed below, and for all things Hornets in the future check out BackBuzzCity.com.